Sanctions alone will not bring Russia to its knees

 Sanctions alone — at least any sanctions that European countries would be willing to now consider — will not bring Russia to its knees any time soon. 

The West has turned to sanctions as a tool with growing frequency since World War II — in places as varied as South Africa, the Soviet Union, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea and Iran. It is relatively easy to apply sanctions, and they nearly always satisfy the domestic political need to “do something” short of military engagement.

Sanctions are often sold as an alternative to war. But they can also be a precursor to war, as seen with the institution of the American oil embargo against Japan and the freezing of Japanese assets about five months before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

 As it is wise to have definite goals and an exit strategy when a country enters a military conflict, the same is true for waging economic warfare.

New York Times editorial 22 April 2022

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/22/opinion/sanctions-russia-ukraine-war.html

It’s hard to see how any of the western countries and companies that have imposed sanctions could justify lifting them. 

It’s a situation that directly implies a drawn-out economic cold war.

John Authers 14 March 2022

https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2022/03/excluding-russia-from-global-financial.html